Purpose of the retreat

To bring faculty together to learn from one another in a supportive environment where we can rekindle the spirit for teaching.

To completely get away from campus, offices, phones, and professional and home obligations.

To move out of a mode of doing to a time for being. To rest. To play. To contemplate.

To interact with Duquesne colleagues who represent different disciplines, perspectives, experiences, and teaching techniques.

To share your teaching ideas in a collaborative setting.

To engage in a time for reflection and activities that inspire creativity

To discuss common readings (these will be distributed a month prior to the retreat).

To foster a collaborative exchange of talent, ideas, and resources.

The retreat will take place at the Spiritan Center which offers the following:

Group meeting spaces

Simple individual rooms for sleeping; shared bathrooms

Meals in a sunny dining room

Garden and expansive green space

Access to Montour Trail – for walking, running, biking

Option to attend mass, or use chapel and prayer room

Accessible facilities

Past participants said...

"This retreat gives me hope that in academia we can actually claim wholeness bringing together the heart/mind/body."

"Thanks for the whole retreat experience. It was wonderfully refreshing and renewing, and added a new dimension to my experience as a faculty member at Duquesne."

"The retreat was an excellent get-away to focus on my teaching needs, but it was also spiritually and physically renewing. The time with peer teachers from different schools of the university was rewarding; nice to know that we share the same concerns. The time went too quickly."

"Sharing and knowing that we all have similar struggles we are dealing with is very encouraging."

"Really like peer instructors sharing creative teaching strategies. Love the humor shared at the campfire. The CTE faculty retreat was revitalizing - can't wait to use some of these strategies in the classroom."

"I felt like I was in a different world while I was there. The retreat was truly that - retreat. I felt free to think and reflect. I was amazed by the positive energy from the entire group. When I came home, I was inspired, more confident about my teaching and more at peace. I loved the structure and easy format. It was all very free flow for me and I felt accepted and nurtured, while also allowed to give back the same. I am definitely seeing my teaching in a different light. I feel more confident about my teaching aspirations and goals. I feel more confident because I gained a very supportive group of friends."